TUE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. rSGl 



batclies of four or five together, and thea shifting them ou without 

 separating them. It is a most excellent pUvi to put five cuttings round 

 the side of three-inch pots, and when they are struck and have filled 

 the pots with roots, to shift them into six-inch pots. The most 

 useful are undoubtedly I?. BigsioelUana, B. fuclisioides, B. nitida, and 

 B. SaundersicDta. Billhergia morelliana and B. thi/rsoidea are two 

 pretty bromeliads, well worth attention. Gerdradenia grandiflora 

 is a neat growing plant, of an attractive character, as also is Ceiiiro- 

 pogon Lucyanus, which, by the way, may be grown most success- 

 fully with but little trouble. Daleclia7npia UoezUana rosea is bj- 

 no means so attractive as many other subjects, yet it is well worth 

 growing, for the pink bracts are very pretty and distinct. ISran- 

 themum. pidchelluin is most attractive and easily grown ; the flowers 

 are of the most intense blue, and, propagated and managed aa 

 advised for the begonias, good specimens may be had for winter 

 tlovvering. In the varieties of J^j^iphyllum truncatum we have a 

 class of the most valuable winter flowering plants. They require 

 very little care, and when in bloom have a very brilliant appearance. 

 There are seven or eight distinct varieties, and all are more or less 

 good. Standards on fifteen inch stems produce the best eftect. 

 They simply require a shift once a year, and to be encouraged to 

 make a vigorous growth by being placed iu the warmest corner of 

 the stove, and supplied rather liberally with water, both at the roots 

 and overhead. When the growth is completed, gradually harden 

 them by lessening the supply of water and placing them in an airy 

 part of the stove, where they will be exposed to the sun. As soon 

 as the growth has become firm, remove them to a sunny position in 

 the greenhouse, and give very little water. In October return them 

 to the stove, commence to water more liberally, and they will bloom 

 superbly during December and January. The grand points in 

 their culture are to encourage them to make a good growth in the 

 early part of the season and then thoroughly ripen it by exposing 

 them as already advised. Buplwrbm jacquiaceflora is most useful 

 to cut from for head dresses and for table decorations, and not less 

 than half-a-dozen or so of specimens should be included. Then we 

 have the Gesneras, and of these G. cinnabarina superha, G. exo- 

 niensis, G. 7'efulgens, and G. zehrina spleiidens, are the most distinct 

 and beautiful. Nidiilarium Innocenti, Vriesia bracliystaclii/s, and 

 V. splendeiifi, are three bromeliads which flower during the winter, and 

 are then very cheerful and pretty. Foinseitta pulcherrima has such a 

 brilliant appearance, when well grown, that it must of necessity 

 enter largely into every collection of winter flowering plants. The 

 variety known as P. pulcherrima majo7' is a decided improvement on 

 the specific form, and, as it can now be obtained at nearly the same 

 rate, it should be purchased in preference to it. Bivina humilis is 

 a pretty berry-bearing plant which has a most pleasing appearance 

 throughout the winter, and Tlujrsacanthiis rutilans is one of the 

 most elegant plants in existence wrhen properly grown, and its true 

 character developed. 



The variegated plants most useful for winter decorations are 

 Ananassa sativus variegatus, Jralia leptopliglla, Croton angusti- 



December. 



